Pirate Bay promotes hybrid file sharing platform

Radu Tyrsina, 21st April 2011

Although BitTorrent once epitomized file sharing, alternative approaches have quickly pushed their way to prominence, with cyberlockers Hotfile and Megaupload gaining rapid popularity.

Unsurprisingly, the Pirate Bay seems to be moving with the times, as it is backing the recently launched Tube+.

Tube+ is quite different than what Internet users have been accustomed to when it comes to media distribution.

It is not just a cyberlocker, BitTorrent or media streaming site – rather, it can best be defined as a hybrid of the three models.

Users of the site can stream the latest TV shows and movies direct to their browser. It also provides direct links to BitTorrent, eMule and cyberlocker sites where the same TV shows or movies can be downloaded for free.

As noted above, the Pirate Bay is promoting Tube+ on its own site. Given the Bay’s reach, this alone is likely to draw many users to the hybrid service. Indeed, the Facebook fan page of Tube+ has already surpassed the 10,000 mark.

At the moment, there seems to be some form of geographical limitations on Tube+ audience with users in certain countries unable to view all content.

Plus, the site is also still buggy with some broken referral links. There are also several ads - probably too many for the average user.